


when i wake up…

by ShirosRedKnight (SweetFanfics)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hallucinations, Happy Ending, Hurt, M/M, shiro's hurt bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:52:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/ShirosRedKnight
Summary: Now that he’s falling down that rabbit hole, a lot more wrongs come to mind. His limbs feels too heavy. His left leg in particularly feels like it’s made of lead. There’s a throbbing ache pressing against the back of his skull, matching the dull, heavy pounding of his heart.Hot drops of moisture fall on his face. The biggest anomaly of them all because it’s not supposed to rain moisture here. Something about the atmosphere here makes it impossible for it to rain liquid. So where are these hot drops falling from sporadically?And who is calling his name?





	

**Author's Note:**

> do you ever write something and by the time you get to the end you’re like, “okay but what was the point of this? what message was I trying to get across? does this even have an objective?” and your brain just SHRUG EMOJI’s at you?
> 
>  _anywaysss._ this is something i’ve had rattling around in my head since I first saw [this beautiful comic](http://dreamteden.tumblr.com/post/150706991289/dreamteden-how-long-was-i-asleep-long-enough) by dreamteden (and then she drew [a continuation](http://dreamteden.tumblr.com/post/151035725689/inspired-by-the-above-tags-from-someone-on-my) so my brain went, aite i can roll with dis) 
> 
> this is me rolling with it. rolling down a hill….screaming _i dont know what im doooinnggg…_

The fact that it’s chilly is the first thing Shiro processes as his consciousness floats towards wakefulness. The second thing he realizes is he’s rather comfortable. It's dark but it is oh so comfortable. He exhales, long and deep, and tries to understand where he is without really moving.

 

Shiro’s lying down, that much he can tell. His head and shoulders are resting against something smooth and chilly as well. His fingers are linked on his stomach. The air is crisp and clean. Kind of chilly. Like the hour before sunset in pre-fall. That's the bulk of information Shiro got and it's not a lot to go by. The only option left to him to gather more information is to open his eyes.

 

A blue sky with purple clouds smeared across it stretches across his vision. End to end, it's a gorgeous sight. He blearily stares up and wonders, _Where am I_?

 

“Oh,” he hears Keith’s voice from overhead before his upside down visage comes into sight. “You’re awake.”

_Oh, that’s right_ , Shiro realizes with a sleepy grin. They’d come down on this green planet to find a rare crystal they needed to ensure the Castle’s smooth running and decided to spend some time enjoying the planet’s natural beauty. And Shiro had dozed off watching Lance trying to teach Hunk and Pidge how to make flower crowns using the white and pink flowers growing around them. Although, from what he remembers, he’d fallen asleep against a tree and not in Keith’s lap. Not that he’s complaining about that because this is pretty nice. 

 

Keith’s gloved hand sweeps his fringe of his forehead, holding it out of the way as he bends down to kiss Shiro’s brow. Shiro hums, closing his eyes at the gentle contact. When he looks back up, Keith’s grinning down at him.

 

“Hey handsome,” Shiro murmurs, voice rough with sleep. “How long was I asleep?”

 

“Long enough for my legs to fall asleep,” Keith teases, fingers combing through Shiro’s white fringe, “About an hour. Maybe a little more.” 

 

Shiro hums in delight under Keith’s gentle ministrations. God that feels good. He yawns and stretches his arms overhead, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. Relaxing, Shiro lazily curls one arm around Keith’s form, closes his eyes, and murmurs, “Could use some more rest.”

 

He closes his eyes with a shiver, wondering how many points the temperature drops on his planet once the sun sets. But that doesn’t strike him as right. Something about that thought is _distinctly_ wrong. Shiro frowns and tries to figure out what part of it is causing alarm bells to ring in his head.

 

 _The temperature. It shouldn’t be this cold._ That’s right. This planet is in a system with two suns. Night barely lasts more than 3 hours here. The temperature shouldn’t be dropping so much that Shiro feels _cold_.

 

Now that he’s falling down that rabbit hole, a lot more wrongs come to mind. His limbs feels too heavy. His left leg in particularly feels like it’s made of lead. There’s a throbbing ache pressing against the back of his skull, matching the dull, heavy pounding of his heart. 

 

Hot drops of moisture fall on his face. The biggest anomaly of them all because it’s not supposed to rain moisture here. Something about the atmosphere here makes it impossible for it to rain liquid. So where are these hot drops falling from sporadically?

 

And who is calling his name?

 

 _Keith_? Shiro blearily realizes, wondering why it’s suddenly so incredibly difficult to open his eyes. They feel so heavy. He gathers his stretch and wills his lids to part. And immediately squeezes his left eye shut when he feels something wet and sticky irritate his eye. 

 

Through his half-opened right eye, Shiro peers up. There’s a familiar shadow hovering above him, hair crowned with purple highlights. Grimacing, Shiro wonders, _Is that really Keith? What’s going on?_

As the numbness in his ears starts to recede, Shiro begins to piece things together. It’s not the crackling noise or Keith’s increasingly worried voice that makes things click. No, it’s the ominous creaking of the broken structure around him that brings back the memory of the Galra soldiers tossing a grenade into the room he’d found himself cornered in.

 

 _I guess that control panel as a lot stronger than I thought it’d be_ , Shiro groans at the thought, wondering if Keith had dragged him out of from underneath the ruined remains of the control panel. What was Keith even doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be on the other end of the ship?

 

Another hot drop falls on Shiro’s cheek. And it finally clicks.

 

They’re tears.

 

“What’s this?” Shiro teases, trying not to think about why he can’t open his left eye, “A handsome prince’s tears have awoken me?”

 

Now that’s getting his bearings back, Shiro can see Keith more clearly. The sight of his twisting his lips together into a painfully thin grimace as he tries to control himself sends a sharp lance of pain through Shiro. That’s not the expression he wanted Keith to make. He’d wanted Keith to laugh at his dumb joke, not feel more hurt.

 

Heck, he feels like crying himself when he sees the shaky smile growing on Keith’s lips. because Shiro _knows_  Keith’s pushing himself to do it. It’s not a real smile. It barely meets the minimum qualification of a smile. 

 

“That’s right,” Keith’s voice shakes and Shiro’s heart breaks. He forces his arm up, reaching out to wipe away the fresh tears sliding down Keith’s cheek. The other paladin takes hold of his hand as he brushes a tear away. Keith’s grip is unbearably gentle. “I sure got lucky, didn’t I?”

 

With a breathless laugh that makes his ribs ache, Shiro replies, “That should be my line, Mr. Prince.” 

 

“Doesn’t matter,” Keith insists, other hand stroking the line of Shiro’s jaw, tender as can be. “Doesn’t matter. And stop using Prince, its embarrassing.”

 

Shiro can’t help but laugh again, stronger this time. It hurts more . He tastes blood against the back of his teeth as he speaks, “No way. You’ve saved me three times already.”

 

Keith’s fingers press firmly against his jugular, checking his pulse before coming back up. _Am I bleeding? How much blood have I lost already? Is that why I feel so cold? Fuck, I hope I didn’t nick any major arteries_ …

 

Feeling light headed, Shiro murmurs, “Isn’t this the part where we kiss and get married?” It makes more sense in his head than it does spoken. _Fuck. I don’t have a concussion, do I?_

With a wet snort, Keith answers, “Maybe after you come out of the cryopod. You look like a mess right now.”

 

“A hot mess?” Shiro asks in a weak but playfully hopeful voice, managing to open his crusty eye open. 

 

Keith scrubs a hand across his eyes with a soft laugh, “I can’t believe you. You’re hurt like hell and still flirting with me.“ 

 

Maybe another day when they’re both in better places than right now, Shiro will admit that he’d only done this to make Keith smile. Because one of the few things Shiro _can’t_  stand is seeing Keith crying. It floods with a helplessness like he’s never known. So he smiles weakly up at Keith and says nothing.

 

"We need to get out of here,” Keith finally says, right as a beam overhead groans tiredly. It sounds two seconds away from giving way to the weight pushing down on it.

 

Shiro nods, turning his head to check their surroundings. _That grenade really did some damage…_  There’s rubble all around them. The control panel he’d dove under is more or less intact. There’s a couple of beams tipped over, precariously hanging on and keeping the bulk of the weight of the broken ceiling in place.

 

“Where’s your helmet…” Keith is mumbles to himself, gingerly moving Shiro off his knees before straightening up.

 

Shiro nods towards the busted control panel, “Somewhere there I guess.”

 

As Keith stumbles towards it, Shiro tries to push himself up on his elbows. His sides scream in agony but he’s been through worse. Shiro grits his teeth and forces himself into a seated position. Sweat dots his brow by the time Keith jobs back with their helmets in hand.

 

“Easy,” Keith warns him, helping him put the helmet on before offering Shiro his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

 

Every step forward hurts but Shiro bears with it. As much as he wants to walk off his ship off his own accord, his body is hurt too badly for him to do so. He doesn’t even manage two steps before he’s depending on Keith to get them out.

 

“Hey guys?” Keith says next to him, “I got him.”

 

Static crackles in his ears for a second before a cacophony of voices bursts into life. He laughs softly at the mix of Lance’s relieved supplication, and Hunk’s sniffles.

 

“Did he lose another arm?” Lance inquires worriedly.

 

Shiro groans, “Lance!” The sound of his voice prompts Pidge to chime in as well, throwing question after question at them until Shiro smiles and laughs, “Alright guys, let’s calm down.”

 

“Our fearless leader is back!”

 

“Where are you guys?”

 

“We’re heading back,” Keith answers Pidge’s last question. “Pidge, can you swing by this side of the ship?”

 

“On it,” Pidge replies while black spots dance across Shiro’s vision.

 

Keith hefts him higher against his side, murmuring, “Watch your step.” Shiro tries and fails, stumbling against the large, crumpled piece of metal. 

 

How they manage to get out of the Galra ship and back to the Castle is a memory lost to Shiro. He’s pretty sure he passed out shortly after they’d managed to worm their way out of the wrecked room. According to his memory, one minute he’s trying to follow Keith through a narrow opening between two metal sheets, and the next he’s tumbling out of a cryopod, straight into Keith’s lap.

 

Shiro blinks in confusion at the thighs underneath his cheek, wondering, _What’s going on_?

 

“Shiro?” Keith asks from above, voice laced with concern. "Are you okay?" Planting one hand and then the other onto the floor, Shiro shakily hefts himself up. Keith’s hands curl around his shoulders to help, guiding him into a kneeling seated position before him. His thumbs stroke the slick white healing suit Shiro’s wearing as he asks, “How you feeling?”

 

“Hungover,” Shiro answers, swaying slightly in place. “Without all the fun of the alcohol before it.” His eyes slip to the floor, taking in the blanket nest, empty water pouches, and half-eaten bowl of good goop around them.  

 

When he looks up, Shiro sees the defensiveness in Keith’s eyes. But rather than pointing out the obvious, Shiro gives Keith a look of gentle censure and tender love, pressing a palm on top of Keith’s hand and squeezing gently. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

 

Keith blinks, clearly taken aback but recovering quickly, “’course. I’d always wait for you.”

 

Smiling weakly, because Shiro knows Keith means that, he asks, “Do you mind staying here a bit longer? I still feel kinda woozy.”

 

Keith moves immediately, making Shiro lie down on his side and his head pillowed in Keith’s lap, “Do you want the blanket? You don’t feel cold do you?”

 

He starts shaking his head but changes his mind half way, “Yeah, please.” As Keith pulls the blanket over him, Shiro presses his nose against Keith’s stomach, nosing against his abs through the soft cotton shirt with a sigh. “What happened after you got me?”

 

Keith’s bare fingers stroke through his hair as he explains, “Not much. I got you out of that room and out of the ship. Pidge blasted another hole in the side of the ship to give us an exit route. We brought you back, stuck you in the cryopod and just… waited for you to wake up.”

 

“How long was I in there for?” 

 

“Two days,” Keith’s fingers snag on a knot before busily trying to unknot it. Two days of healing sleep and Shiro still feels like he could sleep for another day. He yawns against Keith’s torso, pressing closer with a tired mumble. 

 

With a soft laugh, Keith presses his palm against Shiro’s buzzcut, “Rest up.I’ll be here when you wake up.”

 

“Mm, you always are,” Shiro smiles peacefully at the prospect, sleep pulling him under even as he feels Keith let out an embarrassed little laugh. 


End file.
